Cold Drip War
Moon Dog Craft Brewery

 

Appearance - poured into a tulip glass, dark with head and good lacing. Aroma - smells roasty. Taste - tastes roasted. Mouthfeel - astringent. Overall - first taste was impressionable, I really like the beer.

330ml bottle. label says chicory has been added, 38 IBUs. Poured into a flute.

L - black with a maroon tinge. Pours a very frothy large pale brown head. The head thins down a bit, but stays about 1cm thickness.

S - strong black coffee and chocolate smell, with a hint of smokiness and rye malts.

T - Roasted coffee beans and rye malts. The coffee is more in the background, but not as potent as the aroma. There is an earthiness to the malts, with a sweetening towards the finish. A moderate herbal (carob, vanilla) and bitter finish.

F - There is a dryness to the texture that reminds me of drinking chocolate. Moderately carbonated, full bodied, the 6.4% abv is well hidden.

O - actually a very tasty drink, even for any non beer fans. The cocoa flavours are strong, but the earthy herbs make this standout from other porters and brown ales. Very nice.

Pours black with a large off-white head.
Nose shows coffee, roasted malt, spicy rye and bready notes.
Flavours more coffee, sweet bready malt and dry roast leading to a bitter, slightly herbal finish.
Carbonation is much too aggressive.

This is the bottled version and is 6.4% which pours a ruby red kola hue with a one finger head and a smog of lacing, the smell is spicy rye, chocolate malts, a very light touch of coffee and the chicory is everpresent, the mouthfeel is medium bodied with moderate carbonation and the tastes are strong coffee briefly interrupted by dark fruits, a touch of milk chocolate, some herbal hops and once again back to the coffee where the finish is bitter sweet just like a milky coffee with one sugar and overall its not bad and suiting this cold cloudy day cheers.

 

On tap at GABS 2014.

Pours a brown colour, quite dark. Head is tan-coloured, dense and thick and retaining beautifully. Looks awesome, almost coffee-esque.

Smells sweet and spicy. Lots of coffee giving both sweet and piquant espresso notes. Cinnamon on there as well as licorice. Nice spice notes and lotza coffee. Pleasant.

Taste is similar. Lots of coffee, more on the spicy edge, particularly towards the back where it's augmented by licorice and clove notes. Decent malt body pads it out well. Pleasant coffee beer and surprisingly balanced for Moon Dog.

Well-balanced and drinkable drop. I have a very ambivalent attitude towards Moon Dog sometime and this is definitely one of their better efforts. Also one of their least experimental. Coincidence?